Marvel: My Own Path

Modern Earth, Pre Marvel Universe.

Amongst the countless forests and jungles in the whole wide world, there was a desolate forest that was barren and lifeless.

Lacking a normal forest's lush verdant life and vitality, in here, one could only see the withering trees, the decaying grasses, and the lifeless soil.

This place was so ominous that crows didn't even dare approach the area!

At this moment, in the middle of the dried and languished trees was a bloodied figure that kept stumbling as he walked with difficulty.

Limping unsteadily, the young man was hugging his seemingly dislocated right arm which was dripping with blood, dying the barren land crimson.

"Huff...huff..." the young man panted heavily in pain.

Looking at this sorry sight, one could easily tell that even breathing was already strenuous for him, let alone walking.

"Aha... ahahaha... it seems that death himself has finally come knocking huh..." muttered the young man as he raised his head to look at the gloomy sky which seemed empty and hollow to him.

Faint crackles of thunder could be heard as arcs of lightning flashed here and there from the shadowy clouds.

He looked at the dark skies that were as if its wrath were about to be unleashed on earth, yet, he was unfazed as his gaze remained upon the inauspicious firmament.

This young man had jet-black hair that nearly covered all his upper face, however, if one looked closely, he or she would only find calmness and indifference on this person's eyes.

And if you look further down, then you would be shocked because of the number of scars present on the young man's face.

It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that his face was already disfigured!

His forehead, his temples, the areas right below his eyes, his ears, his cheeks, his nose, and even down to his chin and neck—old scars seemingly from razor-sharp edges could be seen.

Hearing the faint rumbling of thunder from the dark clouds, the young man asked. "Why? Why was I even born in this world just to live like this?" he paused for a moment before laughing mockingly when he heard the word 'live' coming from his mouth.

From now and his time since his birth in this world, he didn't once think that his 'life' should be called 'living'.

He couldn't and he wouldn't!

*Rumble!*

*Rumble!*

As the young man's tattered clothes fluttered along with the wind, he couldn't help but ask the heavens why he had been given such a cruel fate.

Boom!

At that moment, a raging bolt of lightning descended from the heavens, targeting the young man. It was as if a god was about to smite an evil being!

Seeing the rapid descent of the thunderbolt, his experiences and memories went past his eyes one by one.

He remembered the figures of his parents yet their faces were obscure as if mocking him, denying his urge to see his parents one more time before his death.

The scene in his eyes then changed to the time when he was orphaned and kidnapped, sent to an unknown underground organization which trained children for the purpose of creating killing machines.

He remembered the experiences of being treated as a literal human experiment. He remembered those times when countless drugs, injections, even poisons, were forced upon him, leaving him in agony and torment.

Following that, he then 'saw' how he was hellishly tortured day and night.

He 'saw' how he was forced to fight if he wanted to continue living.

He 'saw' the time when he had first killed a human being.

Just then, a flash of white light illuminated everything as the speed of this rushed walk to "memory lane" increased by countless of times.

Killing, espionage, killing, torturing people, more killing, betrayal, and even more killing, and finally, revenge.

He had already forgotten how many people had died from his crimson blooded hands.

And with those pair of hands, he used them to slay and slaughter those who had wronged him in the past. Especially those who endlessly experimented on him and tortured him.

That's how he ended up in this state, bloodied and grievously wounded

And finally, the 'near-death experience', or maybe in this case, 'on the verge of death experience', that seemed to take an instant and an eternity at the same time, ended.

As the young man's eyes regained clarity he laughed at how pitiful and pathetic his life was.

All those times he wanted to kill himself, he wanted to end everything so he could finally descend into eternal peace.

However, he couldn't do it.

He wanted an answer.

An answer to the question that compelled him to continue 'living' this tragic life of his.

'Why?'

"WHY?!" he roared to the heavens before being struck by the terrifying lightning that was as if sent by the gods themselves.